So we're up against Eighth High in a wooded area, eh..."
"Generally... That's to our disadvantage."
Mari murmured with eyes glued to the screen while Mayumi replied
as she watched the progression.
Monolith Code was an event that placed the players against each other
under variable outdoor conditions. The Nine Schools Competition
used five scenarios: Woodlands, Boulders, Open Plains, Valley, and
Urban Setting.
Among the magic high schools, Eighth High placed the most
emphasis on outdoor training, so the Woodlands were like their home
court. The settings were randomly generated, but even under these
exceptional conditions, the fact that a favorable setting was picked for
one of the schools that originally possessed an unearned victory
definitely raised concerns that someone was manipulating the odds.
—Yet, neither Mayumi nor Mari or any of the other members of the
brass gathered in the pavilion were particularly worried.
It was public knowledge within First High's command level that
Tatsuya trained under the "Ninjitsu Specialist" Kokonoe Yakumo. A
woodland setting with lots of visual obstructions was an ideal location
to bring out the merits of "ninjitsu" to the fullest. This was also
common knowledge.
However, for the opposing school that was wholly unaware of this
"fact", this was a titanic miscalculation.
Between the starting locations — where the monoliths were erected —
there was a distance of approximately 800 meters.
In full protective gear and carrying a CAD, players needed at least five
minutes to thread through the gaps within the woodlands.
When taking into account that they needed to be constantly on guard
against enemy movements and assault, the time was easily several
times higher.
Regardless — less than five minutes into the match, combat broke out
near Eighth High's monolith.
The players' activities were closely monitored by anti-cheating
cameras. The recorded images would be displayed on a large screen
for the audience. In arenas with large numbers of visual obstructions,
the audience was reliant on these images to follow the unfolding
match.
Currently, the large screen hanging from the sky displayed Tatsuya's
image appearing before the defender from Eighth High.
"He's fast...!"
"Personal Acceleration?"
At Kichijouji's murmur, Masaki also asked aloud, his eyes still locked
onto the screen.
The image appeared briefly before the cameras, and then leaped out of
the frame in the next instant.
The defender on the other side fell to one knee.
The camera switched over to find Tatsuya flanking the defender to the
right side and sprinting for the monolith.
"No, it doesn't look like he used Move-Type Magic... Ah!"
The defender raised the muzzle of his CAD towards Tatsuya. Tatsuya's
earlier attack appeared to only have temporarily upset the defender's
balance.
The Specialized CAD shaped like a short-barrel pistol started its
Activation Sequence.
Immediately, in the frame specifically designed to show psion motion,
a rapidly expanding, non-physical shock wave — a psion explosion —
shredded the defender's Activation Sequence into nothing.
Just then, Tatsuya's left hand was holding a CAD.
From the rear, his right hand was empty.
But in the image now, Tatsuya was running with the CAD in his right
hand pointing towards the defender.
"When?"
Did he draw? Masaki omitted the last few words.
But Kichijouji's answer wasn't directly on the money.
"Wait, don't tell me... Gram Demolition!"
"Did you say Gram Demolition?"
The defender was shocked into immobility by his disintegrated
Activation Sequence. Tatsuya kept an eye on his opponent and clicked
the trigger in his right hand before the monolith.
"Nice! The monolith is opening!"
Seeing Tatsuya plug in the special code that served as a key and split
the enemy monolith in two, Honoka was fairly dancing with joy.
"...Odd."
By her side, Shizuku wrinkled her brows in confusion.
"Shizuku, what's odd?"
In the crowd of Year 1 female students, Eimi asked Shizuku.
"The monolith has been opened, so why is he retreating?"
Just as Shizuku said, Tatsuya didn't approach to copy the code in the
monolith but altered his path and ducked back into the cover of
darkness within the forest.
"Now that you mention it... Hey, Miyuki, what do you think?"
"Even Onii-sama would be hard pressed to input all 512 characters
under constant enemy harassment."
The shell-shaped keyboard worn on the left wrist was also the terminal
used to input the code. Even if Tatsuya typed at lightning speed, he
would still need some time to input all 512 characters on the tiny
keyboard.
"You're right... This is the first time I've seen someone use the key
while the defenders are paralyzed."
Just as Shizuku muttered with dawning comprehension, the frozen
defender came around and hustled into the trees after Tatsuya.
"Just now... That was..."
When Tatsuya used Counter Magic, no one was more astounded than
Mari herself.
Mari was panting and unable to speak coherently. The surprising thing
was that next to her, Mayumi was able to reply blandly.
"Gram Demolition... I had an inkling you were capable, Tatsuya-kun...
And you didn't disappoint."
"Mayumi, you know what that was?"
Mayumi glanced at Mari, who was itching to approach, and swiftly
looked back towards the viewing screen.
"Gram Demolition uses compressed psion particles to directly
detonate the target by charging forward without using the Information
Dimension. This Counter Magic is accomplished by forcibly blowing
away all the accompanying Activation and Magic Sequences —
anything that has traces of magic psions recorded on it.
This is a magic that demolishes the record of magic (Gram), hence the
name Gram Demolition.
While it is called magic, this is strictly a psion cannon ball that makes
no attempt to use Magic Sequences to alter reality. This way, Gram
Demolition is not restricted by Data Fortification or wide area
interference, and the cannon ball's own pressure would reject any
effects of Cast Jamming.
Since there's no actual physical effect, physical obstructions can do
nothing.
This way, the magic that your opponent is casting is forcibly blown
away by the psions.
In order to halt that kind of furious charge, a multi-layered defensive
wall of psions might barely hold up.
Besides its rather short effective range, there are almost no
weaknesses. Along with Gram Dispersion, Gram Demolition is known
as one of the strongest Counter Magics within Nonsystematic Magic...
But there are very few people capable of performing this feat.
I cannot do it either.
Since this isn't an interference ability but a true dispersion, I am
unable to create that kind of force with my psion count.
In summation, it's a super heavyweight!"
"...In other words, it's like a huge brute swinging around a giant mace
with all his strength, right?"
Hearing Mari's roundabout description, Mayumi burst into laughter.
"To be able to say it like that, you're quite calm about it, Mari!
However, you're largely correct. During the match with Hanzou-kun, I
thought Tatsuya-kun was a more delicate, finesse type... I never
imagined that he was actually a front line bruiser."
"Then, during the incident on the way here, it was really..."
"I believe that's what happened. I didn't see it at the time, but didn't
Mari witness it? There were at least ten overlapping Magic Sequences
during the incident, but they were all dispelled instantly... Exactly how
high is his psion count...